I'm lazy. Am I missing out not using liquid yeast?

[badmajon]

I've been brewing for 5 years, I originally brewed with white labs/yeast, did the whole starter thing etc. Then I discovered safale and I haven't used liquid yeast in about 4 years. S05 for the American ales, S04 for the British ones, and I'm going to do my first lager soon so I plan to use saflager.

Am I missing out here? Should I take that extra step? In your opinion is there really that much of a difference?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

For yeasty beers (saisons, hefs, Belgians) dry yeast doesn't compare IMO.
Also, liquid yeast gives far greater variety to experiment with.
That said, more than half of my beers use US05 or 34/70. They produce excellent results every time.

 

[rupert130]

I've been brewing for 5 years, I originally brewed with white labs/yeast, did the whole starter thing etc. Then I discovered safale and I haven't used liquid yeast in about 4 years. S05 for the American ales, S04 for the British ones, and I'm going to do my first lager soon so I plan to use saflager.

Am I missing out here? Should I take that extra step? In your opinion is there really that much of a difference?

If you often decide to brew without much prior planning, then there is nothing better than dry yeast for convenience. If you have the time, overbuilding starters to save healthy liquid yeast can save you money in the long run. I am on my 5th generation of Kolsch yeast currently (a PC offering from Wyeast) and my 4th generation of my favorite liquid saison yeast. All it costs is a little DME and time.

 

[skw]

The only problem with dry yeast is that there isn't enough of it. It's cheap, convenient, I only wish there were more strains available.

 

[Cider123]

There are a whole bunch of beers that I just use 05. I use 04 also at times, but do prefer 1469 for my malty british ales. When I make wits I use 3944 and if I made another siason, I'd use 3711. But for the most part, through the year for most fizzy, yellow beer I use 05. It is so much easier.

 

[brewprint]

Dry yeast is easy to use. I personally don't like the flavors that 05 gives to my beer.

I agree making starters takes about a half hour of extra time. I harvest a pint or so each time I do a starter so I have some for the next go around.

Overall liquid yeast is super cheap doing the reharvesting thing. Dry yeast is $4-$5 and to me that's very pricy.

 

[verysupple]

As alluded to, it depends what you like to brew. You use US-05 and S-04 so I'm guessing you brew APAs, AIPAs etc. and English bitters and the like. They're both great yeasts and the only reason not to use them is if you find another yeast that you prefer for a certain beer.

For me, I prefer strains that are only available in liquid form for most of my English/UK beers but I'm happy to use US-05 and BRY-97 for Americal styles (I've heard Mangrove Jack's M44 is good too but I haven't tried it yet). That said, if fermentation time is a concern, I always find my liquid yeast starters kick off faster than my rehydrated dry yeasts, but that may or may not be a relevant factor for you.

 

[verysupple]

Dry yeast is easy to use. I personally don't like the flavors that 05 gives to my beer.

I agree making starters takes about a half hour of extra time. I harvest a pint or so each time I do a starter so I have some for the next go around.

Overall liquid yeast is super cheap doing the reharvesting thing. Dry yeast is $4-$5 and to me that's very pricy.

You know you can harvest dry yeast too, right?

 

[JustLooking]

You know you can harvest dry yeast too, right?

But it seems like once harvested, it's no longer dry yeast.

 

[verysupple]

But it seems like once harvested, it's no longer dry yeast.

Ha, true. But the cost of the initial packet of dry yeast would be less than liquid and I can't imagine there would be any difference in the number of generations you could repitch.

I should say that don't actually harvest yeast, so from my POV it's a bit academic.

 

[brewprint]

You know you can harvest dry yeast too, right?

I do but I just harvest directly out of my starters...not out of a fermentation vessel.

 

[SpeedYellow]

For yeasty beers (saisons, hefs, Belgians) dry yeast doesn't compare IMO.

Also, liquid yeast gives far greater variety to experiment with.

That said, more than half of my beers use US05 or 34/70. They produce excellent results every time.

+34/70. I've gotten away from liquids as much as possible due to the inconsistency and my hatred of making starters. (I do half lagers, half ales)

And yes, for yeast-driven beers you're stuck with liquid.

 

[tagz]

Yes.

 

[Puddlethumper]

There are several recipes that I like that simply cannot be done with available dry yeast strains. i.e. There is no dry equivalent to WLP-004 Irish Ale Yeast. If I want to make a good Irish red ale I have no other options, and this is true of a number of other beers as well. WLP-080 makes a better cream ale, IMO, than any of the dry strains, and I've tried them all.

That being said, I always have a few packets of Notty, US-05, S-04 and BRY-97 in my fridge. Why? Because at any given point in time three of the four beers on tap in my keezer were fermented with a dry yeast.

Cheers!

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

I've been brewing for 5 years, I originally brewed with white labs/yeast, did the whole starter thing etc. Then I discovered safale and I haven't used liquid yeast in about 4 years. S05 for the American ales, S04 for the British ones, and I'm going to do my first lager soon so I plan to use saflager.

Am I missing out here? Should I take that extra step? In your opinion is there really that much of a difference?

Personally, I've used both dry and liquid yeasts with equally good results. I seem to have the best results with Safale 05 and White Labs yeast. While Safale is my go to on my house ales, I find that White Labs gives me more variety in regards to specific styles of beer that I might be trying to brew. So, yes, give liquid yeasts a try, you won't be disappointed!

 

[CJ-3]

The only thing you are missing out on is a bit more variety. Great beers are also made with dry yeast.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

The only way to know is to try. My newest trick is to brew 10G and split into 3 carboys with 3 different yeasts. Then I can directly see the difference. The other day a friend said: "Wow! That's just a different yeast!?" Then you'll really know the difference.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I use both.I like liquid yeasts for the variety and dry for dependability. but if you say you exclusively use dry yeasts, then you are missing out on the variety. but if you only brew certain styles and don't want to color outside the lines (for shame) then you're not missing out on anything.

 

[skw]

The only way to know is to try. My newest trick is to brew 10G and split into 3 carboys with 3 different yeasts. Then I can directly see the difference. The other day a friend said: "Wow! That's just a different yeast!?" Then you'll really know the difference.

Almost all of my recent brews were split into 2x 10L fermenters. I can only recommend doing this, it's always fun to try out new yeast strains and have an apples to apples comparison.

 

[slym2none]

Honestly... I am worried too much to try making a starter right now. I am still a noob at this, and dry is just... safer to me. Heck, I worried about hydrating my Notty for the Centennial Blonde I just made, and the 48-hour lag time kind of reinforces that worry.



But, at least it is showing signs of life now!



But yeah, that's why I stick with dry yeasts for now. Some day, I will feel brave enough to try using liquid yeast & building a starter.

 

[Gameface]

Dry yeast is easy to use. I personally don't like the flavors that 05 gives to my beer.

I agree making starters takes about a half hour of extra time. I harvest a pint or so each time I do a starter so I have some for the next go around.

Overall liquid yeast is super cheap doing the reharvesting thing. Dry yeast is $4-$5 and to me that's very pricy.

I easily spend over an hour making a starter.

People really like bragging about how fast they can do brewing tasks. Maybe I'm super slow, or maybe I'm doing it wrong, or...maybe I'm actually doing it well. I don't know.

But I can't keg a batch in 15 min and I can't make a starter in 30 min. I just can't. Nor do I really want to. The stuff I do that pushes me well over those times I still, after several years of brewing, consider to be important enough to spend the time to do.

 

[eadavis80]

I actually ENJOY making starters so I make them from harvested/washed dry and liquid yeasts I've used. AFter racking, I usually save 3-4 mason jars worth of yeast so now I feel I have a strain of just about every strain I'll need for a long time: Notty, 04, 05, 1007, 2112, 1010, 3711. Took me about 9 months to create that yeast bank, but now I just buy a pound of DME about every 4 months. That's a lot of yeast on the cheap! Add in some nutrient, properly aerate and you're good. That being said, I can't really say if the beers made with the original liquid smack packs were any better than those made with the original dry packets.

 

[estricklin]

The ONLY time I could EVER see any reason to use liquid yeast is, if the particular strain is not available in dry. I cannot for the life of me figure out why so many go through the trouble of buying the liquid form when a dry packet is available, ready to pitch, and at a lower cost.

I still buy liquid strains all the time such as Irish Ale and sours. I am going to predict that in the coming years we homebrewers will see a surge in the number of dry yeast strains available.

 

[brewprint]

I easily spend over an hour making a starter.

People really like bragging about how fast they can do brewing tasks. Maybe I'm super slow, or maybe I'm doing it wrong, or...maybe I'm actually doing it well. I don't know.

But I can't keg a batch in 15 min and I can't make a starter in 30 min. I just can't. Nor do I really want to. The stuff I do that pushes me well over those times I still, after several years of brewing, consider to be important enough to spend the time to do.

Not trying to brag. I really don't see how it could take longer than 30 minutes.

10 minutes to get water to a boil, 5-10 minute boil, 10-15 minute chill. I don't know. ..maybe it does take me longer than 1/2 hour. I don't time myself.

I'm always doing different things in between tasks too, just like brew day.

 

[tagz]

I easily spend over an hour making a starter.



People really like bragging about how fast they can do brewing tasks. Maybe I'm super slow, or maybe I'm doing it wrong, or...maybe I'm actually doing it well. I don't know.



But I can't keg a batch in 15 min and I can't make a starter in 30 min. I just can't. Nor do I really want to. The stuff I do that pushes me well over those times I still, after several years of brewing, consider to be important enough to spend the time to do.

Try boiling your starter for <5 min. It's not really necessary to do an extended boil. It will save you some time.

 

[beersk]

I brew mostly lagers. I'd be happy if I only used Saflager 34/70. It works for ale styles and lagers. It's a wonderful and versatile yeast.
But I also use Wyeast 3068 for hefes. There isn't a good hefe strain, that I know of, that would be a good replacement for that.

But yeah, you're mostly missing out on variety.

 

[Gameface]

Not trying to brag. I really don't see how it could take longer than 30 minutes.

10 minutes to get water to a boil, 5-10 minute boil, 10-15 minute chill. I don't know. ..maybe it does take me longer than 1/2 hour. I don't time myself.

I'm always doing different things in between tasks too, just like brew day.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to single you out. It's just something that gets said a lot on this site that this or that task "only" takes x amount of time and I wonder why it consistently takes me 2-3 times longer than that.

 

[brewprint]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to single you out. It's just something that gets said a lot on this site that this or that task "only" takes x amount of time and I wonder why it consistently takes me 2-3 times longer than that.

Brewing a 5 gallon batch all grain BIAB takes me 3.5 hours. That's milking it since I'm relaxing. I sure hope it doesn't take you 7-10.5 hours to brew a 5 gallon all grain batch!

Time doesn't matter too much but then again it does. That's why I keg. Of course if I really wanted to save time I would only use dry yeast and stick with extract. Although it only takes 30 minutes more for me to do biab. That I have timed.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Brewing a 5 gallon batch all grain BIAB takes me 3.5 hours. That's milking it since I'm relaxing.

What is your time breakdown for this 'relaxing and milking it' 3.5 hour brewday?

 

[geejay]

Dry yeast is $4-$5 and to me that's very pricy.

I buy my dry yeast (Fermentis Safale S04, mostly) on Amazon for $1/pack. It took some shopping around to get it at that price, but once I found it, I bought ~50 packs. I find more deals on dry yeast than liquid.